In the duo-solo exhibition, 'And we play all of our days away', Silvia B. and Quintus Glerum explore the boundaries between humanity, technology and nature as both artists deal with current human concerns, having to position one's self between the forces of technology and nature. Though one is a recent graduate with honours from st. Joost school of art & design and Frank Mohr Institute and the other already has a 30-year-long art career, both aim to simplify the complex world in a similar playful demeanour to discern what makes us human. 

​

Amsterdam-based Quintus Glerum commonly takes human specific elements and portrays them through the simplified lense of a machine. The act of simplification results in comedic works that both question and highlight the strange relationship between humans and their tools. He applies his background expertise in animation to engage with different realities and hypothetical worlds. Glerum's practice, although perpetually focused on shaping narrative, shifts between virtual and physical spaces. For 'And we play all of our days away' the artist presents a series of a screen-based installation works that play a part in a larger narrative of escapism through simulation. This body of work comes about via his urge to render and romanticize the reality, resulting in a visual telling through the lens of a cartoon persona, while putting an emphasis on the elements of his own perception of reality and attempts to break it, which physically manifests in his requisite use of tangled, excess wiring system.

 

Rotterdam-based Silvia B. is mostly known for her meticulously crafted sculptures of hybrid creatures between different ages, species, genders and (sub)cultures. These creatures are trying to pave their way through the web of existential contemporary dilemmas, wishing to build bridges between the cultivated reality and our deeper intuitive and instinctive layers. Having studied partly sculpture, fashion and art history, B. is a sensitive observer of human behaviour and representation. The latest series, 'Entanglement', stems from the balancing act of contemporary life. At present we are expected to live up to our Instagrammable goals, enjoy the life to the fullest, at the same time, we have to downsize, be conscious, minimize our carbon footprint and look after the environment. In these sculptures the boundaries between nature and culture become fluid. The bare skin of debarked trees blends seamlessly into that of human adolescents, intertwining their vulnerability and will to live in uncertain times. The series reflects on both the drama and the joy of human existence on earth.